Hamas does not respond to the renewed Israeli attack on Gaza

Hours after Israel launched a huge bombing campaign throughout Gaza on Tuesday, the Hamas military wing had not launched a clear counter -attack.

This was the bloodiest day since the ceasefire began in Gaza about two months ago. The Ministry of Health in Gaza, which does not distinguish between civilians and fighters, said that more than 400 people were killed in the aerial bombardment that began before dawn.

However, throughout the day, there was a noticeable absence of missile fire by Palestinian militants or ambushes of Israeli soldiers.

The reaction of Suhail Al -Hindi, Hamas official, to the attack by saying that the group hoped to restore the ceasefire but reserves the right to respond.

He said in an interview on the phone: “How to leave to respond to those on the ground.” “They know and understand how to respond to the occupation.”

There is no doubt that the 15 -month Israel war against Hamas weakened the group that has long ruled Gaza. Israel has killed thousands of its fighters and destroyed many tunnel networks that were used, among other things, to store weapons. Hamas’s ability to launch missiles in Israel was undermined.

Mr. Al -Hindi admitted that the capabilities of the Palestinian militant groups in Gaza had deteriorated due to the war, but he said that they still have the ability and the desire to fight.

“The case is not one of the equipment and weapons,” he said. “It is about will, and I think there is a lot of will to resist this occupation.”

Hamas has worked to reassemble its ranks over the past two months since the ceasefire agreement with Israel has emerged. Uninterrupted bombs have been collected throughout Gaza and re -assembled as improvised explosive devices, according to a member of the Qassam team, the military wing of Homas. The member said that new members were recruited and the leaders who were killed were replaced, speaking on condition of anonymity to discuss sensitive details.

Seven members of the Foreign Affairs and Defense Committee in the Israeli Parliament said in a message that they learned recently that Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic camel, another militant group in Gaza, has more than 25,000 and 5,000 fighters, respectively, in the region.

“The Qassam brigades are still able to confront the Israeli occupation,” said Ibrahim Madhoun, a Palestinian analyst from Gaza, near Hamas.

He said that the lack of any military response to the new Israeli attack may mean that the group focuses on preparing to fight in the event of an Israeli ground invasion.

The Israeli army said it was attacking Hamas and the Palestinian Islamic jihad, a younger group of militants in Gaza, targeting groups of fighters, missile launch sites, and weapons stocks.

Israeli bombing followed weeks of unsuccessful negotiations to extend the ceasefire between Israel and Hamas.

Despite the severity of the Israeli attacks, Mr. Madhoun said that Hamas will not retract the Israeli demands to end its role in Gaza or hand over large numbers of the remaining hostages without warm -end guarantees.

“Hamas does not want an escalation, but it will not give up,” he said.

Israel is trying to pressure Hamas to release the living hostages in exchange for the extension of the ceasefire, without giving the group that seeks to end the war permanently.

Throughout the war, Israel has pledged that it would not allow Hamas to continue to rule on Gaza and will ensure that another attack like the attack on October 7, 2023, which led to the cessation of the war, could never be installed. Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu said that in order for the war to end, the Hamas government and the military wing must be dismantled, a position shared by the right -wing coalition partners in the government.

While Hamas suggested that she was ready to abandon civil rule in Gaza, she refused firmly dissolving her military wing, a decisive source of her strength in the pocket.

During the initial stage of the ceasefire, the group tried to use the hostages from the hostages to show that it is still strong forces in Gaza. Almost every time the Israeli prisoners were transferred to the Red Cross, they were placed in a theatrical ceremony of hundreds of militants wearing the mask.

Michael Milstein, a former Israeli military intelligence officer specializing in Palestinian affairs, said Hamas may first try to measure whether Israel is planning a long -term attack or a limited sulfo before it responded.

“They want to know where things are going.” “If everything will end within two hours, they do not want to waste the remainder of their ammunition.

Iyad abuheweila and Aaron Bokman Contribute to reporting this article.